biomineralize

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verb

To mineralize within a biological organism; e.g. to form bone (in vertebrates) or silica skeleton (in diatoms).

OriginEnglish mineralize ← Ancient Greek βῐο- (bĭo-) ← Proto-Indo-European *gʷeyh₃- →
Scrabble 26
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Meanings

verbbiomineralize (third-person singular simple present biomineralizes, present participle biomineralizing, simple past and past participle biomineralized)

present singular third person biomineralizes · participle present biomineralizing · participle past biomineralized · past biomineralized

  1. biologyTo mineralize within a biological organism; e.g. to form bone (in vertebrates) or silica skeleton (in diatoms).

    Instead, it seems more likely that this organism biomineralizes and arranges endogenous magnetite crystals in a highly controlled fashion within the cell where intracellular structural elements play a significant role in magnetosome, as has been shown for magnetotactic prokaryotes.

    2011, Alexander Altenbach, Anoxia: Evidence for Eukaryote Survival and Paleontological Strategies

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*gʷeyh₃-
  2. Ancient Greekβῐ́ος (bĭ́os)
  3. Ancient Greekβῐο- (bĭo-)
  4. Englishbio-
  5. Englishmineralize
  6. Englishbiomineralize

From bio- + mineralize.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

biomineralize. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/biomineralize

MLA

“biomineralize.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/biomineralize. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “biomineralize,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/biomineralize.

Source: biomineralize on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.